Bharara’s deepening probe clearly has the governor rattled, as
evidenced by his decision to launch an executive probe into the awarding
of Buffalo Billion contracts. Of course, this amounts to the
administration investigating itself, which does not exactly inspire
confidence, especially given the way Cuomo undermined the Moreland Commission.

The U.S. Attorney launched his probe last fall in the wake of a series of stories produced by Investigative Post that published on our website and broadcast on WGRZ.

In December 2014, I reported on
the curious circumstances of the state’s awarding of a contract to
LPCiminelli to develop the SolarCity plant in Buffalo and the Cuomo
administration’s outrageous efforts to thwart my reporting,

In addition to scrutinizing the awarding of contracts, we’ve taken a close look at SolarCity’s shaky finances, including this initial report in October 2014 and a recent update published in February in which I concluded:

“It’s becoming increasing clear that
Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a big risk with taxpayer money to build SolarCity
a $750 million plant.”

With news of the widening federal probe, it’s looking like Cuomo’s political future, as well as taxpayer funds, are at risk.

Read through the links from Heaney's Investigative Post piece - nobody did more to push this story forward and into prominence than Heaney, Investigative Post and WGRZ in Buffalo.

Tom Precious at the Buffalo News reports that with little seeming action from Bharara in the Buffalo Billion probe, the thinking within the administration was that they had dodged the investigative bullet and could move on:

Though quiet for months, the activity from Bharara’s office firmly puts
an end to optimism within the Cuomo administration that the Buffalo
Billion probe was running its course. The governor himself, after
limiting travel to Western New York for a part of last year, has stepped
up his trips to the region.

Indeed, I have the feeling that the leak of the Board of Elections "memo" written by Cuomo appointee Risa Sugarman detailing alleged felonious activity by Bill de Blasio and his campaign team in 2014 was part of Cuomo's feeling better about his own problems with the Buffalo Billion case.

Somebody leaked that story to the press last week (to Ken Lovett at the Daily News, who was also the person to receive the leak about Cuomo's cronies on the hook in the Buffalo Billion probe) and it didn't quite make sense that it would have been the legal entities - Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara - who were involved that.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
are looking into whether the former senior aide, Joseph Percoco, and
his wife failed to properly disclose thousands of dollars in income they
had received from a company or companies doing business with the state,
two of the people briefed on the matter said.

The other people whose conduct is under examination in the investigation,
two of the people said, include Alain E. Kaloyeros, the president of
the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, who was a
central player in the Buffalo Billion; Todd Howe, a lobbyist and
longtime associate of the governor and his father; Louis P. Ciminelli, a
developer in Buffalo; and a company called Competitive Power Ventures.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said Cuomo’s office
received the Bharara subpoena on Friday. The source would not discuss
what documents or information were being requested by Bharara, the same
federal prosecutor who in December won the corruption convictions of
former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader
Dean Skelos. Bharara also recently opened a probe into fundraising
activities by the campaign of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, one of
Cuomo’s chief protagonists.

The source said the new subpoena was
not directed at any individuals in the Cuomo administration, including
the governor, but was sent to the executive chamber.

But the executive chamber subpoena was not the only one to go out:

Another source said subpoenas have been issued to at least two other
entities during the past week; the source would not identify the
recipients.

Here is who didn't get a subpoena:

LPCiminelli, through David C. Oliverio, the company’s attorney, said
the firm has received no additional subpoenas since Bharara’s
investigation first began nearly a year ago.

Dunno about you, but if I had been Governor Cuomo's Luca Brasi for the last few decades and I heard the following, I might get an inkling to tell some stories about buried bodies and midnight whackings:

Steven Cohen, Cuomo's former chief of staff in both the attorney
general's office and the governor's office, said Cuomo won't put his
friendship above "integrity and the obligation owed to the public."

"Friend or not, any instance of misconduct will be met with unambiguous
action to ferret out the wrongdoing, correct the problem and ensure
that law enforcement exacts the appropriate penalty," Cohen said.

One thing we can be fairly certain of - the NY Post will not go hard and heavy on this Cuomo scandal the way they have with the de Blasio scandal.

Indeed, they don't even mention the Cuomo scandal today on the front cover today and barely cover it in the paper at all:

Let's imagine what the cover would look like had de Blasio cronies gotten caught up in a scandal like the Buffalo Billion probe?

Probably like this:

Or this:

Just want to note the Postie hypocrisy before closing the piece.

That's one thing you can always count on in this life - the Posties will go hard and heavy against political enemies while ignoring similar stories against friends, allies and associates.

In any case, depending upon what happens in the now widening Buffalo Billion probe, the NY Post may be forced to acknowledge the scandal on the front page and how it puts their criminal pal Andrew in the same scandalous boat as their favorite pinata, Bill de Blasio.

More as we get it - Perdido Street School blog will be back up and running for the Cuomo corruption story.